A Step Forward for Senate Climate Bill

I'm watching this bill closely.

News Release: Washington, D.C. (Vocus/PRWEB ) November 6, 2009 -- Landmark legislation that would address climate change and lay the foundation for a new clean energy economy advanced closer to final passage today.

The bill, S.1733, the Clean Jobs and American Power Act, passed the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. This legislation will be a key component of a broader climate and energy package that will include input from other committees before being voted on by the full Senate.

Lou Leonard, director of US Climate Policy for World Wildlife Fund, issued the following statement upon today’s vote:

“With world governments gathered this week in Barcelona to make final preparations for next month’s Copenhagen climate summit, passage of this bill by the EPW Committee sends a strong signal that the US will act on climate change.

“Climate change is a crisis that does not respect geographic borders or political affiliation. Although it was not visible in the EPW Committee today, senators from both sides of the aisle recognize the severity and urgency of the climate threat and the need to take action. Bi-partisan attempts to tackle climate change started in 2003 with the McCain-Lieberman bill, and have recently been evidenced by the leadership of Senators Graham, Lieberman and Kerry.

“Every region of the US is already feeling the effects of climate change and they are getting worse. The longer we wait to act, the more damaging the impacts will be on our economy and the natural world. We have wasted too many years. The Senate should act this year to assemble a comprehensive climate bill that will demonstrate American leadership in Copenhagen and allow EPA to conduct an analysis of the final legislation. It is time for our leaders in the Senate and the White House to engage in a serious way to pass climate legislation and protect the planet that we will leave to our children.”

ACT FOR OUR FUTURE
For more information about WWF’s efforts to secure Senate passage of climate legislation, please visit www.ActForOurFuture.org.

Not What the Doctor Ordered: Rapid Environmental Change Threatens the Foundations of Human Health

News Release: Washington, D.C. (Vocus/PRWEB ) November 5, 2009 -- Changes to the Earth’s land cover, climate, and ecosystems are endangering the health of hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of people worldwide and now represent the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century. The scale of these global changes is rapidly undermining human life-support systems and threatening the core foundations of healthy communities around the globe: access to adequate food, clean air, safe drinking water, and secure homes.

It is increasingly apparent that the breadth and depth of the changes we are wreaking on the environment are imperiling not only many of the other species with which we share the ecological stage, but the health and wellbeing of our own species as well

These are the findings of the new report,Global Environmental Change: The Threat to Human Health, published today by the Worldwatch Institute and the United Nations Foundation. The report notes that, as a result of rapid changes to the climate and in land use, we are already seeing alterations in the distribution of malaria, schistosomiasis, and other infectious diseases in many regions. It concludes that poor populations, mainly in developing countries, are the most vulnerable to these environmental changes, even though they are the least responsible for contributing to them.

“It is increasingly apparent that the breadth and depth of the changes we are wreaking on the environment are imperiling not only many of the other species with which we share the ecological stage, but the health and wellbeing of our own species as well,” writes the report’s author, Dr. Samuel S. Myers, M.D., M.P.H., an instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Research Associate at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

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A note from Richard: A lot of folks in the various metaphysical movements see these kinds of announcements as quite negative. But burying heads in sand does nothing for the health of the world. To solve any problem or challenge, it is first important to know what it is. To pretend that nothing is happening is to say you won't do anything. "All is well. It's an illusion." That's part of the problem, not the solution.

Keep an eye on your world. Not everyone wants to keep it healthy. Join us in the adventure. Come and save your planet.

Give Yourself a Break!

Sometimes your flaws are your most attractive features...

“What we practice, we become.” Victoria Castle, Trance of Scarcity

What is perfection? My dictionary says it’s the state of being without flaw or defect. So, perfection by that definition does not exist anywhere in the known universe, which is a state of raw imperfection, seeking to balance and harmonize itself and never quite making it—kind of like us.

We tend to distrust the perfect, the flawless, the “superior.” Even a perfect God is more to be feared than adored. Throughout history, the adoration or worship of the deity has been out of fear of the deity’s possible wrath. That’s no way to live.

But thank the Powers That Be, you’re not perfect. And a good thing, too. You’d be nothing less than boring without all those little faults and misshapes that you so often dislike about yourself. Those defects, as you may call them, can be taken lightly.

How to recognize the value of your flaws and defects:

· Se1. See them as necessary. Without them you can have no spiritual goal. Strength increases through resistance and overcoming. If you want to build muscle, you must tear down the tissue first and then rebuild it. “When doing something important, comfortable is not a place you begin.” (Anon.)

· Se2. See them as teachers. Change them by changing the meaning you have given them. You get what you expect. “First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.” Epictetus

· Se3. See them as mirrors. If you let them, they will reflect back to you your vanity, pride, fear, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, and self-pity. View these habits of mind with courage and they will begin to melt away. “The only sure way to destroy your enemies is to make them your friends.” (Anon.)

Just like the universe, you are perfectly imperfect. There is much to be learned from your flaws, if you will allow yourself to become the student. And you’ll begin to touch the world in a new and powerful way. Embracing your imperfections allows you to take your mind off yourself and place it in a more beneficial arena: service to the world, your true calling.

Celebrate your imperfections. They keep you connected to the rest of us.

“You can resent your bald spot or be glad you have a head.” (Anon.)

(A New Thought Entry) Maya Angelou, Unity Student

Here's a great little snippet from Unity's online newsletter, which I receive each month:

Maya Angelou’s experience with Lessons in Truth.
Renowned author and actress Maya Angelou is a Unity Truth student. While participating in a recent online Unity course, she described how the classic book, Lessons in Truth, changed her life more than 50 years ago.

I was given Lessons In Truth in 1955. I was a dancer and had just joined the opera Porgy and Bess. I was told that the world tour would take us to Europe and behind the Iron Curtain. I was young and had great trepidation about traveling so far from home. Then I read Lessons In Truth and found the statement “God Loves Me.” I repeated that statement over and over and when it finally sank into my intellect and then into my spirit, I knew that I was free and could attempt any good thing—for God loves me. I have been a student of Unity for 54 years, never studying formally. I am very excited to be a student of this this class and am already richer for having been accepted. —Maya Angelou